


Undercurrent

by orphan_account



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Deadlock Gang, Deadlock McCree, M/M, Mermaid Hanzo, mermaid au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-12
Updated: 2016-07-12
Packaged: 2018-07-23 14:37:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,355
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7467147
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Usually, only ship captains are allowed to keep mers.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Undercurrent

**Author's Note:**

> Well, the Discord McHanzo chat got really excited about mermaids, and I got commissioned by user coolcep!! Thanks dear!

The first mermaid seen was spotted in the mid 1500s. Of course, after the initial craze, everyone decided it was likely a whale or a manatee, and mers were deemed a myth. 

Decades later, more mermaids were spotted. They were said to be singing beauties who lured men to their deaths. Ships began disappearing, the woodwork found shattered on rocks or washed ashore. Some simply vanished into nothing. It almost seemed to become an epidemic, and although humans were glad for the gradual dwindling of the number of pirate ships, they did not appreciate the disappearance of legal (paid for) cargo. Of course then, there was only one solution...or rather, one solution with two parts: earplugs, and mer-hunting. 

It became a sport. The faster you could get your earplugs in and get to the nets, the more likely you were to catch a mermaid. Sometimes hunts would be interrupted for rescues. Misplaced earplugs or earplugs that fell out were always an issue. Some sailors started making hats or headbands to hold them in place. In any case, the number of sunken ships decreased rapidly.

Meanwhile, the number of mer sightings increased sharply. The merfolk were prideful people, it seemed, and the more their kind was captured, the more they would attempt to take human lives. People did still die in these excursions, of course, but mers fetched a hefty price on the black market, and eventually they were sold like pets or, much to the creature's dismay, fancy baubles. 

The disappearance of merfolk was unexplained for some time. Some humans believed that they were hunted to extinction. Others said that was silly; the ocean was too large to have such a small number of them, surely. Whatever the reason, it became increasingly difficult to catch any. Eventually, a captured mer revealed that many clans had tired of losing their children, and had fled to deeper waters. Humans attempted pursuit with impossibly long nets that only ended up being tangled, and the depths were far too low for humans to swim. Mers became expensive trophies instead of pets for the wealthy. 

Pirates of course had fewer troubles. They had no reason to actively pursue mers when there were cargo ships to raid, full of gold and tradeable goods and dangerous new weapons. That wasn't to say they wouldn't catch one if they had the opportunity of course, but most weren't willing to risk their ship and cargo for a siren. 

The first "tank" ship had been built in 1630. It was incredibly expensive and belonged to one of the wealthiest men in the world. Other well-off families began to follow suit, which is how pirates often acquired them. 

One such pirate labeled himself 'Deadlock', and his newly acquired ship, _La Santa Fe._

* * *

Killing him was the best option. 

It was simple. He was given an order. All he had to do was follow it, and he would have no one to take the throne from him. He would lead the clan without having to consult anyone but the elders. He would claim his brother's portion of riches. Simple. 

He couldn't do it. 

"Genji," Hanzo whispered, grasping his brother's hand. 

Genji stirred. "Five more minutes...." 

Hanzo shushed him. "Genji, wake up. It's still night." 

Genji cracked an eye open, vibrantly gold as a scowl encompassed his features. "What do you want?" he groaned. 

"Hush," Hanzo murmured softly. "Get up." 

"Is this another shitty training exercise?" 

"No. Please be quiet." 

Genji paused. Hanzo's fingers tightened on his hand, and Genji studied his brother's face. "Hanzo?" he asked, finally dropping his volume. "Did something happen?" 

Hanzo nodded. "Yes. We must go. Take nothing with you." 

"What about my trident?" 

Hanzo hesitated, then nodded. "Take that." 

"Where's yours?" Genji rose out of bed and pushed a pale coral band into his hair to hold it back. He was starting to get anxious. 

"My room," Hanzo answered. "I don't have time to get it. We need to go before we're caught." 

"Hanzo, what's going on?" Genji asked. "Why are we -" 

"Hush now," Hanzo chided fondly, but his eyes sparked with flecks of gold. 

* * *

"Hanzo," Genji gasped. "Slow down. You're dragging me." 

Hanzo's grip on his wrist was tight, and Genji was growing irritated at the way the scales on Hanzo' s palm scraped gently at his skin. "You're slowing down," Hanzo said simply. 

"I'm tired," Genji sighed. "We've gotten far, haven't we? Let's rest." 

"We need to gain more distance." 

"Hanzo, I'm exhausted." 

"I know. I am too. Just a little farther. We can hide in the reefs up ahead." 

Genji stopped complaining, but only long enough to contemplate their situation. "Hanzo, you could have killed me." 

Hanzo nodded without looking back. "I could have," he said evenly. 

"Why didn't you? You would have had everything you could want." 

"I would not have you." 

Genji fell silent. 

* * *

They did not rest at the reefs for as long as Genji would have liked. It was two hours at most, and Genji's short nap was frequently interrupted by Hanzo's constant moving. Genji had never seen his brother so restless. The anxiety in Hanzo's features made him look as though he'd come upon a hungry shark. 

"You didn't sleep at all," Genji said, rubbing his eyes with his free hand as Hanzo dragged him again. 

"I had to keep watch," Hanzo replied. 

"No one would catch up so quickly. The elders would've taken time to find someone capable of bringing us back, and we had hours of head start in any case -" 

"Genji," Hanzo stopped, his dark hair floating around his face. "The elders are not our only enemies. You must remember that. We won't be able to swim in our own waters from now on. If we run into any other clans -" 

"So what, you plan on never sleeping again?" Genji said skeptically. "You look awful, Hanzo." 

"We'll take turns -" 

"That's how we'll live then?" Genji demanded, snatching his hand away. "Sleeping in turns, checking over our shoulder, scavenging for food...and no clan." 

Hanzo looked his brother over. Dye colored his hair a soft green, and his white tail was speckled with flecks of orange and gold. Orange bled into the tips of his fins save for the tip of his tail, which was the only stark white thing about him, and gold scales peppered his arms and shoulders. Hanzo suspected the scales on his arms wouldn't get any thicker, so long as Genji learned nothing else of summoning his serpent. "You can fit in with the Yamaguchi-gumi," he said after a moment. "You favor them enough, and they'll be happy to one up the Shimada clan." 

"My looks may grant me an audience, and nothing more. And you?" Genji spat. "You'll never be accepted among them at all, even if they don't kill you on sight." 

Hanzo folded his arms and looked away. "I know that." 

"You're throwing your life away for me." 

"I'll figure something out." 

"Even if they accept me, I'll never see you again." 

Hanzo chewed his lip, then sighed. "We can't go back. They'll kill us both," he said. 

"I know that," Genji bit out. "You shouldn't have done this, Hanzo." 

"What's done is done," Hanzo said sharply. "I'll figure something out. Just give me time." 

Genji's fingers tightened on his trident, and he didn't say anything else. Hanzo took his hand. 

* * *

Past the reef, fish swam in thicker schools, and their colors dulled significantly. Hanzo and Genji stuck out like sore thumbs. Fish darted about nervously whenever the brothers swam too close, and more than once, Genji voiced his desire for a net. 

It was these types of waters that made Hanzo nervous. Thick schools of large fish drew thick crowds of larger predators, and the last thing they needed was for a shark to decide that they would make a better meal than cod or mackerel. There were no signs of anything terribly dangerous so far, but even Hanzo knew better than to trust his eyes in unfamiliar territory. 

"Keep an eye out," he said, his eyes flitting over their surroundings. 

"Believe me, I am," Genji muttered. "This place gives me the creeps." 

"Hm," Hanzo said, though he was immediately far more on edge. Genji was a hunter, born fearless, and for him to be disturbed could only mean there were more capable, dangerous hunters nearby. He wished his songs would work on sea creatures as well as they did on humans. 

Genji swam close to his side, his eyes bright gold. "I really don't like this place," he muttered. 

Hanzo slowed down, frowning deeply. Something felt wrong, something about the way the water rippled against him, like something massive was causing a disturbance in the currents. Genji stopped too and looked back at him expectantly. "What?" he asked.

Hanzo chewed his lip. "I don't know yet," he admitted. "Whatever it is, we should -" his sentence cut off abruptly as fish suddenly swarmed up from below, so thickly that for a moment he lost sight of his brother. "Genji!" he cried, batting fish away. Distantly, he heard Genji call for him, though his voice was muffled by the constant movement of distraught fish. "Genji!" 

The fish gathered against him, fins scraping against his skin as too many pressed too close. Hanzo thrashed in attempt to force them away, but they only writhed and squished together tightly. 

Hanzo scrambled, grabbing at nothing, until his fingers hit something thin and twined. 

A net. 

The fish still squirmed like one massive, pulsing body, their scales scraping against everything nearby. Hanzo gritted his teeth as sharp fins sliced into his skin and grated against his tail, and he grabbed for the netting to try to pull himself out of the frenzy. He winced as something cut into his fingers, and Genji's hand brushed his as Genji started sawing at the net with his knife. 

"Hanzo!" Genji yelled. His voice wavered with panic, his hands shaking even as he sawed. "Hanzo!" 

Hanzo tangled his fingers in the net above Genji's knife and pulled himself out of the swarm of fish, though they still slided against him and pressed him into the twine. "Hurry!" he pleaded. His eyes darted to the top of the net, pulled taunt and kept in place by heavy metal weights that clanged together dully. 

"I'm trying!" Twine snapped in Genji's fingers, and he pulled it tight to cut away another piece. His tail flicked as he worked; the net was getting away from him. _Hanzo_ was getting away from him. 

Another piece snapped, but the hole wasn't anywhere near wide enough to fit Hanzo's shoulders through. A few fish squirmed out of the mass and slipped through, smacking into Genji's face. He sputtered and lost hold of the net for the briefest of seconds, and fresh panic shot into his belly. 

The metal weights broke the surface and clanged louder. Fish near the top of the net started flopping, unable to breathe. Hanzo fumbled with the twine, trying to pull apart the small opening his brother had made while Genji scrambled to get another hold and cut through the slippery material. 

He felt too light. There was hardly any water weighing on him. He'd be in midair soon. 

"Hanzo!" Genji wailed. 

Hanzo grabbed his wrist. "Genji, listen to me! They'll check the water once they find me! Are you listening?! Get away from the boat!" 

"I can't just - " 

"Do what I tell you!" Hanzo screamed. "For once in your life, just do what I say!" 

Genji gripped Hanzo's arm and drew blood with his black nails. Hanzo sputtered as his head broke the surface, air filling his lungs for the first time in years. His eyes burned as sunlight shone directly in his face, and his ears rang with the clang of machinery that hefted the net over the boat. 

Distantly, he heard Genji screaming for him. 

_Damn him, why won't he ever listen?_ Hanzo thought. The net jerked, swaying as it swung over the edge of the boat, then abruptly dropped to the deck. Hanzo grunted as the net lost tension, and he spilled out of it along with flopping fish. The cries of alarm around him were immediate - no, not alarm. Excitement. 

Hanzo pushed himself up and shook his head to clear it, then hissed at the approaching sailors. Now, they spoke in alarm, but their curiosity easily overwhelmed whatever fear they had. 

The sailors were just as burly and hairy and disgusting as Hanzo expected. Sometimes, years ago, he would sink nice, beautiful ships, but their sailors were often just as smelly, even in their neatly kept uniforms. These men wore no uniforms and dressed in sloppy, tattered shirts and worn trousers and awful, clunky boots. 

"Look at that," they murmured in awe. "A real mer. We really caught a mer." 

"Ain't he pretty?"

"Do you think the cap'n'll keep 'im?" 

"Amelie would kill 'im, don'tcha think?"

"Maybe the cap'n might give 'im to one of us." 

"Not yer ugly mug. If'n he does, it'll be to McCree." 

"Amelie might kill 'im anyways." 

They approached him cautiously, saying soft things like "Easy there now..." and "We ain't gonna hurt'cha." Hanzo hissed and bared his teeth, his tail curling underneath him and his nails scraping the deck. Sailors crowded around him from all sides, and something blunt and heavy struck the back of his head. 

When Hanzo woke up, he was sore and cramped, and found himself sitting in large crate full of water. He'd been stored among the cargo, hidden away in the dark until they found a place to put him. Hanzo thought that was strange...most pirates had tank ships in this day and age.  

He curled his fingers and ran his thumb over the tips. The sailors had sawed down his nails while he was unconscious. 

* * *

 

Hanamura sure was a pretty town. 

Jesse was excited to leave it. The place seemed too pristine with it's pink flower trees and it's castle-like homes seemed fake and staged. The city was crawling with Yakuza, and the fact that the plan had gone smoothly without any hitches was still making Jesse a little suspicious. As far as he was concerned, he couldn't leave the Japan port fast enough. 

It didn't help that Deadlock had suddenly abandoned Jesse for nearly three hours. Something, apparently, had required his immediate attention, but why the captain hadn't sent Jesse in his place was beyond him. Surely the first mate could've handled it just as well. In any case, Deadlock had returned before the arrival of the yakuza clan they were bargaining with, so Jesse supposed he couldn't complain, even if he was damn curious. 

Jesse sighed and combed his fingers through his hair. Wasn't he supposed to be relaxing on his birthday? Christ...

At least he had some money to buy some of that nice saké stuff and plum wine before he left. He'd gotten a lot too, enough to treat the rest of the crew if he was so inclined. After a stressful meeting like the one that had taken place over the last few days, there was nothing Jesse looked forward to more than a party on the ship. 

Said ship, Jesse noticed as he approached, was strangely silent. 

He raised his brow, a smirk playing at the edge of his mouth. Deadlock enjoyed these types of things. Jesse was never as surprised as he pretended to be, but if the captain wanted to spoil him, then Jesse wasn't about to complain. 

As expected, the crew collectively yelled, "Happy Birthday, McCree!" as soon as he boarded. Jesse laughed and said "Thank y'all kindly. I don't s'pose y'all are so excited on account'a the fact I bought saké?" 

A roar went about the ship. Deadlock clapped Jesse hard on the back. 

The ship's captain was broad shouldered and tall, towered four inches above Jesse's head. He was perhaps a bit more slender than his first mate, though Jesse couldn't say that made the captain any less intimidating, and he wore his curly hair far down his back. Though his left eye was scarred and cloudy, he refused to wear an eyepatch, and there was another scar (supposedly from the same sword) across his lip. His fine coat was the scarlet red of England's navy generals (rumor said that Deadlock has stolen the coat off the back of a high ranking Brit and left the man stranded in his undergarments) and there was a fine black hat always sitting atop his head. 

Deadlock was a man who grinned too much for most men's liking, though Jesse often found himself mirroring it. Today, he noticed, the captain looked particularly pleased, which, given the date, meant he had decided to spoil Jesse for his birthday. 

Again. 

Jesse almost wished he wouldn't. He liked presents, sure, but he could do without the resentment it sometimes elicited from other sailors. They already called him 'Deadlock's heir' or even 'Cap'n's pet' when they thought he couldn't hear.

"Yer gettin' old, lad," Deadlock said, his voice gruff from years of barking orders and inhaling cigars.

"Who, me?" Jesse said. "I ain't got a single gray hair yet, Cap'n."

"You pickin' at me 'bout my age, boy?"

"No, sir," Jesse laughed.

Deadlock flashed him another grin (Jesse caught sight of a gold tooth in the corner of his mouth) and hollered at a few of the men to start playing. Tonight, he told Jesse, they would stay docked, and they'd dance and drink all night if Jesse so pleased. Jesse knew better than to say no.

Some time later, when the sky was dark and torches and lamps were all that lit the ship, the music still played obnoxiously loud in Jesse's ears. He laughed at nothing as he danced, pleasantly buzzed on frequent glasses of saké and careful sips of plum wine.

Deadlock waved his hand at the musicians, and the music suddenly stopped. Jesse's feet stumbled to a halt, and everyone's eyes swiveled towards the captain out of habit more than anything else.

"I reckon," Deadlock said slowly, to build suspense, "I oughta give you yer present now, McCree." 

Jesse grinned. "Aw, shucks, Cap'n, a present for lil' ol' me?" he asked, as if he didn't get a present every year. 

Deadlock's smile looked sloppy with alcohol. "I wus' s'posed ta give ya somethin' else, but I got somethin' better at the last minute." 

"That so?" Jesse said lazily. 

Deadlock let out a shrill, sharp whistle, and the sound of struggling was suddenly heard from below deck. Jesse raised his brow, watching a small group of men drag a large object in a net (no, something wiggling, something alive) onto the deck. Others lit the way with torches, murmuring in appreciation at the creature.

"We already got a tank installed in yer room," Deadlock said proudly, his hands on his hips. "Did it quick-like, while you wus' in Hanamura." 

Jesse stared. The sailors gave one final heave and dumped the creature out of the net at Jesse's feet. It hissed at them, curling in on itself as it glanced up at Jesse with contempt in its bright, golden eyes. 

Jesse held his breath. "Cap'n....you ain't serious...." 

"Serious as death, boy," Deadlock said firmly. He flashed Jesse another wicked grin. "I ain't got any use fer 'im, really, and I figured ya wouldn't mind 'im bein' a man." 

The mer was stunning, with a lithe, strong body and a long, powerful tail, his navy scales occasionally interrupted by beautiful flecks of gold. Those blue and golden scales dusted one of his arms and both of his shoulders, and down those shoulders cascaded black hair that was peppered with gray at his temples. His beard was far more well kept than Jesse's, and while his mouth was set in a grim line, his lips still looked full and almost too soft. 

Jesse flushed and stared down at his birthday present, his mouth dry.

Hanzo stared up at his new master, gritting his teeth and wishing his serpents would come to his aid. 


End file.
